These are not URI fans Blue Man. If they were they wouldn't be rooting against PC to URI's detriment.

How does a URI fan rooting against PC be to URI’s detriment?

Will my rooting against PC tonight vs Marquette cause the game to tilt towards a Marquette win? Maybe if I am in the dunk booing PC or screaming when a Friar goes to the FT line but I don’t plan to be in the Dunk building, I prefer the Ryan Center tonight.

Just reposting this response from another thread because it fits:

I’m certainly not saying that rooting for or against a team means you’ll sway the game...I am merely pointing out the absurdity of rooting against your interests.

Since most on this board are URI fans, I would think the goal would be to see URI do as best they can when it comes to the NCAA tournament.

Since we have a top rate coach, making the tournament isn’t good enough any more. The goal is to advance to the second weekend.

The higher our RPI and the more quality wins we have, the better our seeding will be.

Blue Man...thanks for the well thought out explanation. I didn't have the patience. See you in a few hours. Go Rhody! And PC, VIrginia, Bama, Seton Hall, Nevada, etc.

The better our seeding, the more favorable of a matchup we will have in early round games.

The more favorable of a first/second round matchup, the more likely we will make it to the second weekend.

Considering the fact that we have a realistic shot of said preferential seeding, in a bracket that happens to hold those second weekend games in boston this year...I would assume everyone would be rooting for that outcome.

The fact that all people can see is PC losing a game and don’t understand how that affects our team baffles me.

I think it’s either an educational point for the posters who may not understand how RPI rankings work/affect our NCAA tournament experience...or a hypocrisy worth pointing out.

Blue Man...Thanks for the well thought out explanation. I didn't have the patience. See you in a few hours. Go Rhody! and PC! and Alabama, Seton Hall, Nevada, Virginia, etc...

sf2010 wrote:I fully understand the positive impact that PC winning games has on our RPI and the quality of that win.

I am also extremely happy whenever they lose, and want them to lose every game.

When they win, the affect on our RPI is more of a silver lining thing for me, I’d still rather they had lost.

So essentially you hate PC more than you like URI. That's fine I guess. I love URI, so I want whatever's best for the school, even if that means PC winning. I hope Seton Hall smacks them in their two games though.

2 x

“We’re going to get better in the future. Coach Hurley’s history speaks for itself. I came here because I wanted to be part of his program, to help get things rolling, to help build a program," E.C. Matthews

sf2010 wrote:I fully understand the positive impact that PC winning games has on our RPI and the quality of that win.

I am also extremely happy whenever they lose, and want them to lose every game.

When they win, the affect on our RPI is more of a silver lining thing for me, I’d still rather they had lost.

sf...just to understand you completely...if you were given a choice of PC running the table in the Big East and URI getting a 5 seed in the tourney, or PC losing every game in the Big East and URI not getting an at-large birth, you would root for the latter?

sf2010 wrote:I fully understand the positive impact that PC winning games has on our RPI and the quality of that win.

I am also extremely happy whenever they lose, and want them to lose every game.

When they win, the affect on our RPI is more of a silver lining thing for me, I’d still rather they had lost.

So essentially you hate PC more than you like URI. That's fine I guess. I love URI, so I want whatever's best for the school, even if that means PC winning. I hope Seton Hall smacks them in their two games though.

ramster wrote:How does a URI fan rooting against PC be to URI’s detriment?

Will my rooting against PC tonight vs Marquette cause the game to tilt towards a Marquette win? Maybe if I am in the dunk booing PC or screaming when a Friar goes to the FT line but I don’t plan to be in the Dunk building, I prefer the Ryan Center tonight

sorry ramster...had I known my statement would be taken so literally, I would have made it differently. "These are not URI fans Blue Man. If they were they would understand that every PC loss is to the detriment of URI's standing in March". Hope this is something you can more easily comprehend.

RhodyRam86,

Your rephrasing simply says that I understood you correctly the first time. You are saying that I am not a URI fan. Got it.

Don't feel bad Ramster. You can hang with me and others. Apparently, the Ram Fan Police (Sgt. RhodyRam86 in command) can come on this board and determine who's a fan and who's not. Apparently, our ID cards have been revoked because we don't feel 100% exactly as others do 100% of the time.

However, I have yet to get a clear rundown of the qualifications that these folks to use to determine who is a "real fan."

These are not URI fans Blue Man. If they were they wouldn't be rooting against PC to URI's detriment.

How does a URI fan rooting against PC be to URI’s detriment?

Will my rooting against PC tonight vs Marquette cause the game to tilt towards a Marquette win? Maybe if I am in the dunk booing PC or screaming when a Friar goes to the FT line but I don’t plan to be in the Dunk building, I prefer the Ryan Center tonight.

Considering the fact that we have a realistic shot of said preferential seeding, in a bracket that happens to hold those second weekend games in boston this year...I would assume everyone would be rooting for that outcome.

The fact that all people can see is PC losing a game and don’t understand how that affects our team baffles me.

I think it’s either an educational point for the posters who may not understand how RPI rankings work/affect our NCAA tournament experience...or a hypocrisy worth pointing out.

Preferential seeding is for the top 16 teams and even then it's not guaranteed unless you're a one seed. Call me a negative nancy but with our remaining schedule a four seed or higher is not very realistic.

sf2010 wrote:I fully understand the positive impact that PC winning games has on our RPI and the quality of that win.

I am also extremely happy whenever they lose, and want them to lose every game.

When they win, the affect on our RPI is more of a silver lining thing for me, I’d still rather they had lost.

sf...just to understand you completely...if you were given a choice of PC running the table in the Big East and URI getting a 5 seed in the tourney, or PC losing every game in the Big East and URI not getting an at-large birth, you would root for the latter?

No, that is actually not understanding my point at all. PC being a good win vs a bad win does not make the difference between URI being a 5 seed (top 20ish team in the country) and not making the tournament (outside the top 45ish). That’s taking the RPI-boost benefit to the point of absurdity. PC not doing well might drop URI from a 5 to a 6 in that scenario.

I root for all our opponents to do well before and after we play them. Except for PC. I am a URI fan first and foremost, and part of that for me is hating PC. I really like to see them lose. That does not mean I don’t see the benefit when they happen to do well, but I will always be happier when they lose.

Feel free to check back in when URI is the first team out and PCs RPI was 85 instead of 45 had they done well and I might sing a different tune. But the odds of a bad PC team actually being what keeps us out of the tournament are so impossibly minuscule that I’d rather just see them lose.

sf2010 wrote:I fully understand the positive impact that PC winning games has on our RPI and the quality of that win.

I am also extremely happy whenever they lose, and want them to lose every game.

When they win, the affect on our RPI is more of a silver lining thing for me, I’d still rather they had lost.

So essentially you hate PC more than you like URI. That's fine I guess. I love URI, so I want whatever's best for the school, even if that means PC winning. I hope Seton Hall smacks them in their two games though.

No, I love URI more than I hate PC. I just happen to still hate PC and want to see them lose. Different ways to feel about things.

Only reason I spoke up is because some posters were saying idiotic things like “if you root for PC to lost then you’re not a real fan.” Stupid statement. It’s just a different way to feel and to engage with the sport.

ramster wrote:How does a URI fan rooting against PC be to URI’s detriment?

Will my rooting against PC tonight vs Marquette cause the game to tilt towards a Marquette win? Maybe if I am in the dunk booing PC or screaming when a Friar goes to the FT line but I don’t plan to be in the Dunk building, I prefer the Ryan Center tonight.

Just reposting this response from another thread because it fits:

I’m certainly not saying that rooting for or against a team means you’ll sway the game...I am merely pointing out the absurdity of rooting against your interests.

Since most on this board are URI fans, I would think the goal would be to see URI do as best they can when it comes to the NCAA tournament.

Since we have a top rate coach, making the tournament isn’t good enough any more. The goal is to advance to the second weekend.

The higher our RPI and the more quality wins we have, the better our seeding will be.

Blue Man...thanks for the well thought out explanation. I didn't have the patience. See you in a few hours. Go Rhody! And PC, VIrginia, Bama, Seton Hall, Nevada, etc.

The better our seeding, the more favorable of a matchup we will have in early round games.

The more favorable of a first/second round matchup, the more likely we will make it to the second weekend.

Considering the fact that we have a realistic shot of said preferential seeding, in a bracket that happens to hold those second weekend games in boston this year...I would assume everyone would be rooting for that outcome.

The fact that all people can see is PC losing a game and don’t understand how that affects our team baffles me.

I think it’s either an educational point for the posters who may not understand how RPI rankings work/affect our NCAA tournament experience...or a hypocrisy worth pointing out.

Blue Man...Thanks for the well thought out explanation. I didn't have the patience. See you in a few hours. Go Rhody! and PC! and Alabama, Seton Hall, Nevada, Virginia, etc...

The fact people are having a hard time understanding that certain Rhody fans will just hate PC no matter what is baffling...its called a rivalry.You think there aren't Duke fans who would never in a million years root for UNC even if it meant Duke gets a slightly better seed, or better standing...of course there are. Same for red sox fans towards yankees and so on and so on...they may root for them to lose with less vigor, because there is a silver lining as was mentioned, but they will never root for them to win. That is the passion in fandom, and even though logic and things like RPI say otherwise, it is what it is. Some of that animosity is 20,30,40 years in the making, you can't just drop it because we may get a seed 1 spot higher if PC plays at the top of the BE.

I personally don't feel that way, and i'm more where ATP was in saying i want them to be decent so our win isn't totally diluted, but be the first four out or something like that The reality is PC is a 30ish to 60ish range RPI team pending Cartwright's health and if they are playing well/maxing out, the impact of them being 34th or 54th will be minimal on our data.

steviep123 wrote:This is probably a lot easier for me to do because I don't live in RI, so I have to purposely look for news on either URI or PC. I have zero interest in how PC (or any other team) does other than they do against URI. I root for URI every game, obviously, and my only interest in PC is in URI beating them in December. Other than that game, I couldn't care less what PC does.

steviep...I hope you understand that the better our competition does when they are not playing URI, that looks better for us in March. I wouldn't expect that you would root for other schools, read up on them, or even check their scores. But I don't understand why you "couldn't care less". If you are a URI fan and want them to not only be playing in March, but also to have a good seeding so they have a reasonable chance to make a run, you should hope our OOC opponents do well in their own conferences which in turn betters our tourney resume.

I understand that, and if our opponents do well in other games, then great. But I have no control (or time really) to follow that.

sf...just to understand you completely...if you were given a choice of PC running the table in the Big East and URI getting a 5 seed in the tourney, or PC losing every game in the Big East and URI not getting an at-large birth, you would root for the latter?[/quote]

No, that is actually not understanding my point at all. PC being a good win vs a bad win does not make the difference between URI being a 5 seed (top 20ish team in the country) and not making the tournament (outside the top 45ish). That’s taking the RPI-boost benefit to the point of absurdity. PC not doing well might drop URI from a 5 to a 6 in that scenario.

I root for all our opponents to do well before and after we play them. Except for PC. I am a URI fan first and foremost, and part of that for me is hating PC. I really like to see them lose. That does not mean I don’t see the benefit when they happen to do well, but I will always be happier when they lose.

Feel free to check back in when URI is the first team out and PCs RPI was 85 instead of 45 had they done well and I might sing a different tune. But the odds of a bad PC team actually being what keeps us out of the tournament are so impossibly minuscule that I’d rather just see them lose.[/quote]

sf...my 5th seed vs. being left out was obviously hyperbole. URI can run the table and may not get a 5th seed, but adding a win over a top 35-40 PC might be the difference from an 8 seed to a 7 seed. we'll likely never know for sure. I just know as a URI fan I will always root for something that benefits the Rams. I don't know how much a win for PC over Marquette tonight would have helped URI, but I do know for sure it would have helped more than a loss. I'd rather put my love for URI over my hate for PC. (full disclosure...I grew up a PC fan until going to URI so I don't have the same disdain for the Fryers that many others have, but I do understand the hate for a rival)

bigappleram wrote:The fact people are having a hard time understanding that certain Rhody fans will just hate PC no matter what is baffling...its called a rivalry.You think there aren't Duke fans who would never in a million years root for UNC even if it meant Duke gets a slightly better seed, or better standing...of course there are. Same for red sox fans towards yankees and so on and so on...they may root for them to lose with less vigor, because there is a silver lining as was mentioned, but they will never root for them to win. That is the passion in fandom, and even though logic and things like RPI say otherwise, it is what it is. Some of that animosity is 20,30,40 years in the making, you can't just drop it because we may get a seed 1 spot higher if PC plays at the top of the BE.

I personally don't feel that way, and i'm more where ATP was in saying i want them to be decent so our win isn't totally diluted, but be the first four out or something like that The reality is PC is a 30ish to 60ish range RPI team pending Cartwright's health and if they are playing well/maxing out, the impact of them being 34th or 54th will be minimal on our data.

good reply bigapple. I agree with most of what you say. disagree about the sox/yanks comparison only in that in pro sports rankings are based only on records and as the sox/yanks are direct rivals I would always root for the yanks to lose. college rankings are based on a number of factors. and while you are right in that the ultimate impact of the friars season on the rams ranking would be minimal, there is a big difference between and 8 seed and a 7 seed. or a 7 vs a 6. so to me, a friar win MAY not help URI much, but a loss definitely won't help URI at all.

I dislike the friars and many of their fans......I was rooting for them to beat Marquette tonight....and they let us down again by losing.....now you see why I don't like them.....I will root against them when they play Villanova, Xavier, and Seton Hall.......they need to beat every other team....

Seton Hall, UVa and Nevada all should win a lot of games. That will be the foundation of our RPI. PC, Bama, Bonnies are the next tier. Need to max out against Bonnies. Then there is everything else -- maybe teams like CoC, Iona can play up and win their leagues, that will help, but these are all likely Top 100-150 wins at best, mixed in with our league games. Have to avoid a disaster loss or two to the dregs of the 2018 A10.

Billyboy78 wrote:Damn, for the past 45 years, I thought I was a URI fan. It really sucks to suddenly find out that I am not.

we may certainly have different definitions of what a "fan" is. to me, if it is more important to you to see PC lose even if that loss negatively impacts URI, then you are more of a PC hater than a URI fan. To me a fan would root for all things that benefit my team...even if that is a win for my team's arch rival.

Cooley Coaching- Cooley had #11 Alpha Diallo 6'7" on Howard much of the game. Howard just kept going by Diallo or getting off his 3 point attempts with ease- Diallo was continuously beaten and Cooley still had Diallo covering Howard even when he had 4 fouls- Cooley also had #21 Jalen Lindsey 6'7" (who was sick) cover Howard with no effect- In addition Cooley used #25 Drew Edwards 6'4", #25 Kyron Cartwright and #44 Isaiah Jackson 6'6" and all 3 were ineffective. - I have to laugh how last February in the legendary Jim Baron 2.0 thread that Hurley was widely criticized and Cooley was widely praised. I would not have traded Hurley for the $2 million dollar a year Cooley back last February during the low point (while many in that thread would have) and certainly I would not now - you would have to be nuts- Hurley was widely criticized that he could not win the close ones, he needed an x' s and o's coach on the bench with him (an older, seasoned coach), he could not develop players, his recruiting had been ineffective the last 2 years, he made his players nervous, he made the refs mad and therefore incurred more fouls against URI because of him and on and on- So speaking of inability to with the close ones:- With 1 minute 6 seconds to go Cooley had a 6 point lead (79-73)on his home court- Then Howard hits a 3 while lightly guarded making it (79-76)- Then Cartwright has a critical Turnover with 36 seconds to go- Howard drives right by guess who, #11 Diallo, lays it in with 24 seconds to go and gets fouled by Diallo. Makes the FT to tie the game (79-79)- PC Ball with 24 seconds to go, score tied and Cartwright dribbles the ball off his foot right in front of Cooley and the PC bench- Marquette gets off a 3 at the buzzer to win but missed- Marquette dominates in OT to go up 95-90 and the game ends- BUT, Cooley throws a fit and gets the Refs to add .6 seconds on the clock- PC misses a 2 pointer at the buzzer which would have been meaningless anyway- Why Cooley did not just let the game end who knows. Maybe he thought he had EC Mathews on his team who could make a 6 point shot (as he did last night against Lasalle). Only problem is that Cooley does not have EC Mathews on his team

Cooley Recruiting- Not impressed at all with Makai Ashton-Lankford who was #38 ranked ESPN- Wonder if UCONN saw his poor shooting ability and just cut him loose last spring- His shot looks bad. I looked up his stats and only 2-19 on 3 pointers and 25-53 on FTs. Consider Fats Russell has made 18 FTs but with only 20 attempts for 90%. I'd take Fatts all day long ahead of Ashton-Lankford or should be named Clankford that way the ball hits the rim

Crowd- Not impressive, Lots of empty seats viewable on TV, many close to the court- People are quiet, never stand up, sleepy, bored- Need EZBuckets to go up there and wake them all up

I tried, rooted for them, but that is a team that shows little speed, low energy, low enthusiasm, they play matador defense, low energy defense, leave guys open at the 3 point line on a regular basis.

If I am URI then I do not count on PC at all to help me make the NCAA Tournament or to get better seeding. I focus on my A10 Conference and what I can control. I'll continue to root for PC because of the new rule that has been put into place. But things have to change a lot for PC Players, Coaches and Fans if they are going to finish Top 50 RPI in the Nation - and I mean A LOT!!! imho

Billyboy78 wrote:Damn, for the past 45 years, I thought I was a URI fan. It really sucks to suddenly find out that I am not.

we may certainly have different definitions of what a "fan" is. to me, if it is more important to you to see PC lose even if that loss negatively impacts URI, then you are more of a PC hater than a URI fan. To me a fan would root for all things that benefit my team...even if that is a win for my team's arch rival.

Part of what will make our program successful is being THE team in our state. That's not going to happen until we beat the crap out of that hideous, disgusting institution occupying a former mental hospital every year AND said hideous, disgusting institution's program swirls down the drain.

good post ramster. agree with much you said. I was at the ryan center last night and was only getting text updates from a friend at the Dunk. certainly a frustrating night for the friars. I never suggested a uri fan should also be carrying black and white pompoms. I just think it doesn't make much sense to gloat at their ill fortune....unless of course we are having a sucky year then...yeah...I guess I could understand many URI fans wanting PC to share in the misery.

RhodyRam86 wrote:good post ramster. agree with much you said. I was at the ryan center last night and was only getting text updates from a friend at the Dunk. certainly a frustrating night for the friars. I never suggested a uri fan should also be carrying black and white pompoms. I just think it doesn't make much sense to gloat at their ill fortune....unless of course we are having a sucky year then...yeah...I guess I could understand many URI fans wanting PC to share in the misery.

Frustrating night for the Head Coach. Cooley did not have his players ready for that game. To put the slow, 6'7" Alpha Diallo on a 5'11" Sophomore Guard Markus Howard, who really was not all that quick, was ridiculous. Poor coaching. But even more ridiculous was that he still had Diallo on Howard late in the game.Huge press today about how Howard put up 52 point tying Marshon Brooks' Record, but Cooley deserves part of the game ball that Howard receives. Then he also put the slow, 6'7" Jalen Lindsey and the slow 6'6" Isaiah Jackson on Howard - that was dumb as well.

Compare Cooley's defensive actions on the 52 point, 5'11" Markus Howard to what Dan Hurley would have done.

Hurley's guys play all out defense, or they come out of the game or never even hit the floor if they don't play defense in practice. Hurley recruits guys who excel at defense, who want to play defense, who what to improve at defense. Hurley will pull a guy out in a NY Minute of they miss a defensive assignment. Hurley would never have a had a Nicola Akele, Ryan Preston or Hassan Martin on a 5'11" guard. He would have Jeff Dowtin, Jared Terrell, Jarvis Garrett, Stanford Robinson or Daron Russell on Howard. He would have double teamed him if he needed to. But in now way, NO POSSIBLE WAY does a Dan Hurley Coached team allow a 5'11" Guard go off for 52 points. I heard all the praise about Cooley last year and especially in the Jim Baron 2.0 worst thread in the history of Keaney Blue, until I became nauseated. Cooley blew that game last night. Plain and simple.

I'll go with the new mandate from you, RR2 and Blueman that I have to root for PC to qualify as a URI fan, but that debacle in the making in Providence should not be depended upon for URI to make the NCAA Tournament because they have big problems. You want me to root for them then you get my observations as well.

ramster I have no issue with your observations. i was only getting late score updates from providence so i didn't know what was going on otherwise. again agree with much of what you said with the exception that i don't recall ever seeing hurley double team anyone. i know there have been a couple games where we've wondered why he didn't double team one of the other team's bigs. Nevada stands out to me.

anyway...you will not find one post on this board where I've been critical of hurley or lauded cooley. I've said it before, i grew up a PC fan. they were the only team on tv when i was growing up. i then went to uri and suffered through possibly the worse 4 year stretch in school history. i think we won 40-45 games total in those 4 years, but I have bled Keaney blue ever since.

This is a message board where we are all entitled to express our opinions. i have no issue with someone expressing their contempt for PC. At the same time, i will feel free to express my opinion that when someone is rooting against the interests/benefits of URI, then that person is more interested in their own self satisfaction than being a URI fan.

Not sure how old you are 86, but I don't know many URI fans that root for pc to win. Certainly not the ones in the stands during the fight in 91. Or the cheerleaders who got bowled over. Or the one and only Rhody who got beat up in a bathroom. I certainly never root for them. As I said in another thread, if we need pc to be good to garner our resume, we didn't do a good job OOC.

theblueram wrote:Not sure how old you are 86, but I don't know many URI fans that root for pc to win. Certainly not the ones in the stands during the fight in 91. Or the cheerleaders who got bowled over. Or the one and only Rhody who got beat up in a bathroom. I certainly never root for them. As I said in another thread, if we need pc to be good to garner our resume, we didn't do a good job OOC.

blueram i am 53. I've said more than once on this board that i grew up in RI when there were only 3 channels on tv. PC had a deal with channel 10 and i saw them regularly while the only times i saw URI play was against PC. so growing up in the 70s i was very familiar with and a fan of PC teams. i suspect there are 1000s of others that grew up the same way, but eventually attended URI. Many of those converted and hate PC with a passion. I know for sure that there are a number of others that are now URI fans, but don't hate PC. Those fans are likely around my age that went to URI when Westerly High School could have beaten the rams. The events you spoke of above are after i graduated. i imagine those in school at that time have different feelings. And obviously, i am not speaking for EVERYONE in my age range. I just know there are a lot of people that feel the same as i do. I hate PC only one day a year.

theblueram wrote:Not sure how old you are 86, but I don't know many URI fans that root for pc to win. Certainly not the ones in the stands during the fight in 91. Or the cheerleaders who got bowled over. Or the one and only Rhody who got beat up in a bathroom. I certainly never root for them. As I said in another thread, if we need pc to be good to garner our resume, we didn't do a good job OOC.

blueram i am 53. I've said more than once on this board that i grew up in RI when there were only 3 channels on tv. PC had a deal with channel 10 and i saw them regularly while the only times i saw URI play was against PC. so growing up in the 70s i was very familiar with and a fan of PC teams. i suspect there are 1000s of others that grew up the same way, but eventually attended URI. Many of those converted and hate PC with a passion. I know for sure that there are a number of others that are now URI fans, but don't hate PC. Those fans are likely around my age that went to URI when Westerly High School could have beaten the rams. The events you spoke of above are after i graduated. i imagine those in school at that time have different feelings. And obviously, i am not speaking for EVERYONE in my age range. I just know there are a lot of people that feel the same as i do. I hate PC only one day a year.

So, you were born in 1964. You are old enough to remember the 70s. But then again, you were a PC fan at the time. I'm sure you loved Dave Gavitt.

theblueram wrote:Not sure how old you are 86, but I don't know many URI fans that root for pc to win. Certainly not the ones in the stands during the fight in 91. Or the cheerleaders who got bowled over. Or the one and only Rhody who got beat up in a bathroom. I certainly never root for them. As I said in another thread, if we need pc to be good to garner our resume, we didn't do a good job OOC.

blueram i am 53. I've said more than once on this board that i grew up in RI when there were only 3 channels on tv. PC had a deal with channel 10 and i saw them regularly while the only times i saw URI play was against PC. so growing up in the 70s i was very familiar with and a fan of PC teams. i suspect there are 1000s of others that grew up the same way, but eventually attended URI. Many of those converted and hate PC with a passion. I know for sure that there are a number of others that are now URI fans, but don't hate PC. Those fans are likely around my age that went to URI when Westerly High School could have beaten the rams. The events you spoke of above are after i graduated. i imagine those in school at that time have different feelings. And obviously, i am not speaking for EVERYONE in my age range. I just know there are a lot of people that feel the same as i do. I hate PC only one day a year.

See that's the problem with not having sustained success. If you were at URI a couple years later you could have witnessed the 88 Sweet 16 team. Or a few years earlier the 78 team and SLY!!!!! But instead you seem to wallow in the down years you were there and contemplate Westerly HS being better than a D1 program. I see were your coming from.

unfortunately yes...i grew up rooting for ernie d, barnes, stacom and hassett. i remember them going to the final 4 in '72. and of course gavitt was very familiar. uri sucked when i was there and the next year billy d. takes the friars to a final 4. not sure how even a uri fan couldn't appreciate billy d in college. i understand why those that didn't grow up like me would have very different feelings. and i certainly understand why gavitt is hated.

and btw...i gave uri too much credit when i said they won 40-45 games in my 4 years in college. here are their records....9-19, 6-22, 8-20, 9-19.

RhodyRam86 wrote:ramster I have no issue with your observations. i was only getting late score updates from providence so i didn't know what was going on otherwise. again agree with much of what you said with the exception that i don't recall ever seeing hurley double team anyone. i know there have been a couple games where we've wondered why he didn't double team one of the other team's bigs. Nevada stands out to me.

anyway...you will not find one post on this board where I've been critical of hurley or lauded cooley. I've said it before, i grew up a PC fan. they were the only team on tv when i was growing up. i then went to uri and suffered through possibly the worse 4 year stretch in school history. i think we won 40-45 games total in those 4 years, but I have bled Keaney blue ever since.

This is a message board where we are all entitled to express our opinions. i have no issue with someone expressing their contempt for PC. At the same time, i will feel free to express my opinion that when someone is rooting against the interests/benefits of URI, then that person is more interested in their own self satisfaction than being a URI fan.

I never said Hurley double teamed a guard on the opposition, I said that he would do anything possible to prevent a guy from going off for 52 points against his team. It would never happen. It did happen to Cooley and company. IF Hurley could not stop or slow down a 52 point effort like last night with his defense as it was, then he would change out players, he would have players help out and ultimately if he had to he would double team the guy - bottom line is Hurley would never allow that to happen against his team, Cooley did.

Take a gander at the PC Scout Board regarding last night's game. A ton of discussion about the Referees bad performance, injuries, players not feeling good....but no criticism of Cooley, no criticism of the lack of hustle of the players or the lack of defensive effort. They just think the guy had a great offensive night.

What I love about Hurley is his focus on defense. We had none of that during the 11 years pervious to the Hurley era. Defense is what is making this team so successful, what is separating us from the pack. Got to love where this program continues to go.

Honestly at this point PCs performance isn't going to make much a difference to our fortune either way. So I'm going to root against them every damn time. Am I willing to sacrifice a small bit of rpi to watch PC collapse? Absolutely. If it truly would make a difference in seeding that would be a different story. I just don't think it will.

BleedBlue87 wrote:Honestly at this point PCs performance isn't going to make much a difference to our fortune either way. So I'm going to root against them every damn time. Am I willing to sacrifice a small bit of rpi to watch PC collapse? Absolutely. If it truly would make a difference in seeding that would be a different story. I just don't think it will.

maybe, but not sure about that. last year as the season grew to a close we were talking about top 50 wins. we went into the a10 tourney with 2 (cincy and vcu). pc just slipped from 36 to 63. we currently have 1 top 50 win (SH) and only have 2 more potential (SB). hopefully it would just be for seeding purposes, but another top 50 win can't hurt.

Look, if they remain top 50 great. That's awesome. But, I'm going to smile every time PC gets smoked too. I think the overreaction by people on this board by revoking fan cards because some of us root against PC is laughable.

So, if PC keeps winning, it could be the difference between us getting a 5 seed or a 6 seed? Who cares? 0-31 every year. If we're depending on PC being good to get a good seed, we're not as good as we thought we were. Do what we're supposed to do....win 16 games in the conference and win the conference tourney. We're probably favored in 17, if not all 18 games. No excuses. We should win almost every game in conference. 16 wins still allows for 2 slipups. We're supposed to be that good. That would put us at what, 28-5? That gets us a good seed no matter what PC does. Screw them.

BleedBlue87 wrote:Look, if they remain top 50 great. That's awesome. But, I'm going to smile every time PC gets smoked too. I think the overreaction by people on this board by revoking fan cards because some of us root against PC is laughable.

count me as one laughing at those who root for teams we've played to get smoked.

BleedBlue87 wrote:Look, if they remain top 50 great. That's awesome. But, I'm going to smile every time PC gets smoked too. I think the overreaction by people on this board by revoking fan cards because some of us root against PC is laughable.

count me as one laughing at those who root for teams we've played to get smoked.

Based on the below definition of RPI, my simple URI educated mind just can't understand how people root for our opponents to lose. If they lose it hurts our RPI...plain and simple. I don't know exactly how it will translate to seeding but I have to believe a URI with a higher RPI is going to be in better position than a URI with a lower RPI. maybe that's a 7 seed rather than an 8 seed. and if there is any chance that a PC team with a top 50 RPI helps us avoid a 1 seed in the second round, I'd take it. I'm open to anyone that has information showing it doesn't matter how good the opponents we play are.

The rating percentage index, commonly known as the RPI, is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. ... Thus, the SOS accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is 2/3 its opponents' winning percentage and 1/3 its opponents' opponents' winning percentages

I understand the math and the logic......I want every team we beat to go out and win the rest of their games....but the friars are an exception.....I work with their fans....many of whom are not sophisticated basketball fans to say the least....they are filled with extreme hubris to our team.....the more turmoil for their school the better......now if I lived out of state and didn't see so many of them maybe I would have a different outlook....

RhodyRam86 wrote:Based on the below definition of RPI, my simple URI educated mind just can't understand how people root for our opponents to lose. If they lose it hurts our RPI...plain and simple. I don't know exactly how it will translate to seeding but I have to believe a URI with a higher RPI is going to be in better position than a URI with a lower RPI. maybe that's a 7 seed rather than an 8 seed. and if there is any chance that a PC team with a top 50 RPI helps us avoid a 1 seed in the second round, I'd take it. I'm open to anyone that has information showing it doesn't matter how good the opponents we play are.

The rating percentage index, commonly known as the RPI, is a quantity used to rank sports teams based upon a team's wins and losses and its strength of schedule. ... Thus, the SOS accounts for 75% of the RPI calculation and is 2/3 its opponents' winning percentage and 1/3 its opponents' opponents' winning percentages

Your literally talking the difference of maybe 2-4 points RPI wise. I'm totally fine with that unless we're on the bubble. If the selection committee gods start following RPI as a bible then I'll change my mind. Until then, PC losing will bring a smile to my face each time it happens.

“... playing for one another. We’re like a brotherhood. Everybody has each other’s back. If somebody’s down, we pick them up. If someone gets beat off the dribble, we step in. If somebody’s hot, we feed them the ball.” - Jeff Dowtin, 1/16/18

Rhodymob05 wrote:Bracket Joe has the Rams of Rhode Island as a 9 seed playing the 8 seeded Irish of Notre Dame.

In a separate article he came out with, he looked at the concept of a team’s “effective record,” which simply removes games played against sub-200 teams at home. Interesting to see. For example, Baylor drops from 10-4 to 2-4 because they have beaten EIGHT sub-200 teams at home thus far.